Massive Rally
In Beirut
By Nadim Ladki
09 March, 2005
Reuters
BEIRUT -- Hundreds of thousands of flag-waving Lebanese flooded
central Beirut Tuesday for a pro-Syrian rally called by Hizbollah that
dwarfed previous Lebanese protests demanding that Syrian troops quit
Lebanon.
As the mainly Shi'ite
Muslim crowds thronged Riad al-Solh square, a security source said Syrian
forces had begun moving eastward under a phased withdrawal plan announced
Monday.
"The redeployment to the Bekaa Valley has started in line with
the first phase," the Lebanese source said.
The huge Hizbollah
rally was the first major show of popular support for Syria in Beirut
since the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik
al-Hariri touched off daily anti-Syrian protests, mainly involving Maronite
Christians.
Those protests,
which drew tens of thousands Monday, take place in Martyrs Square, just
300 meters (yards) from the scene of the gathering organized by Hizbollah
and its allies.
The rival demonstrations,
each using the Lebanese cedar flag to show patriotism, reveal deep rifts
in Lebanon over Syria's role and international demands for Hizbollah
to disarm.
Hizbollah and Lebanese
security sources said one million people attended the rally, which Hizbollah
chief Hassan Nasrallah called to thank Syria for its "sacrifices"
in Lebanon and to oppose a U.N. resolution saying militias must disarm.
"I am here
to express my opposition to resolution 1559 because it demands the disarming
of the resistance. Hizbollah is not a militia. It deters Israeli aggression
against Lebanon," 30-year-old demonstrator Mona Srour told Reuters.
Shi'ites, Lebanon's
largest community, condemned Hariri's killing but few joined Christian,
Druze and Sunni Muslim critics of Syria's military and political role
in the country. Shi'ites and many other Lebanese are proud of Hizbollah's
role in forcing Israel to end its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon
in 2000.
Popular agitation
in Lebanon, combined with intense world pressure, has prompted Syria
to announce plans to end its 29-year military presence in its smaller
neighbor.
The Lebanese source
did not say which positions the Syrians were evacuating, but witnesses
reported troops on the move in several places on mountain ridges east
of Beirut.
The redeployment
began after a Syrian-Lebanese military committee agreed on the details
at a meeting in Damascus.
Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese counterpart Emile Lahoud agreed Monday
to shift Syrian troops to eastern Lebanon by March 31. A statement said
the Syrian and Lebanese military would then decide how long the Syrians
stayed.
A Syrian official
source in Damascus said Syrian security and intelligence men would leave
Lebanon along with the troops.
This would meet
a key demand by the United States and its allies, as well as the Lebanese
opposition, for the departure of Syrian intelligence officers they accuse
of calling the shots in Lebanon behind a facade of Lebanese state institutions.
The source gave
no timetable for the second phase of the pullout, but said: "This
doesn't mean it won't be soon."
The United States
has dismissed the Syrian plan for failing to set a deadline for a full
withdrawal.
Hizbollah, which
began as a small guerrilla force devoted to ending Israeli occupation
in the south, has developed into a sophisticated group with political,
military and welfare bodies. It has several MPs in parliament and runs
several charities.
The United States
considers it a terrorist organization.
"Israel listen
to our voices: We will not compromise and will not sell our honor to
the foreigner," loudspeakers blared across the central Beirut square.
"Our homeland is Arab."
"Bashar, with
you we will not be shaken and the resistance will continue... Thanks
for the Syrian blood that protected us from our enemies and the fire
of civil war."
Bearded young men
in black took charge of security, searching streets and even drainage
holes for suspect objects.
"Thank you,
Syria's Assad," a large banner said. "No to foreign interference,"
read another.
The crowds carried
only Lebanese, not party, flags, in line with Nasrallah's instructions.
They also waved posters of Assad and Lahoud.
Syrian forces are
credited with helping ending the civil war that tore Lebanon apart.
Christian, Muslim and Druze militias fought each other. Battles also
erupted within the rival communities. About 150,000 people are thought
to have died.
Lebanon, with only
a caretaker government since the one led by Omar Karami resigned last
week amid anti-Syrian protests, is due to hold a general election by
May.
Lahoud was due to
hold consultations with parliament on Wednesday before naming a prime
minister-designate. Political sources said Karami appeared the favorite
candidate.
© Reuters 2005